The Behaviour of Flexurally Strengthened RC T Beams Considering the Constraints Caused by Columns

Most of the researches on strengthening so far has been focused on rectangular reinforced concrete (RC) beams,and strengthening of Reinforced Concrete (RC) T-beams are rather limited. This study focuses on the application of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate for strengthening the tension zone of RC T-beam constrained by the presence of a stump (representative of a column). To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strengthening method, a total of four RC T-beams were fabricated and tested. Two of them were cast with a column stump in the midspan to provide constraints for the application of CFRP laminates. The beams were tested using the three point bending test set-up. The result showed that the restraint offered to the application of CFRP laminate due to the presence of column stump did not affect the strength of the beam significantly. The load carrying capacity was increased by about 50% over un-strengthened beam.